>> steve: reportedly no drugs at home. that's why he was able to send us an e-mail picture for us. congratulations. >> brian: and make sure you watch the show tomorrow. among our great guests, curt bush. that's susan boyle. bill: here we go. a fox news exclusive. former cia director david petraeus who resigned friday after acknowledging the extramarital affair with his biographer has agreed to testify voluntarily before the house and senate intelligence committee. prior to his resignation he had been scheduled to testify about the scandal in benghazi, libya where the ambassador and three other americans were killed. that was initially blamed on a

spontaneous demonstration over a film, a mob. he has contacted the cia as well as committees in the house and senate to offer his testimony meanwhile, new questions on whether or not general petraeus told everything that he knew on benghazi the first time he sat down for testimony. that would have been three days after the attack on the 14th of september. so good morning. a lot to chew on. we'll connect all the dots. i'm bill hemmer. good morning. martha: that's a huge headline that petraeus will testify. lawmakers were set to be briefed by the fbi today on capitol hill. they have a lot of questions about all of this. why did no one inform congress or the white house that the director of the cia was

currently under investigation. big question mark over that. doug, what's the latest on this today? >> developments continue to come in fast and furiously. catherine herridge is reporting some key lawmakers are openly questioning the veracity of david petraeus' testimony when he said the attack was a flash mob. and a demonstration that spun out of control. with that explanation overwhelmingly rejected many on the hill say it's vital that petraeus testify. >> i would like to hear from him within the next week or so. there is so much to learn. he has just gotten back from a trip over there. the american people have a right to know. >> reporter: investigators wants to explore whether he may

have molded his briefing to the white house narrative to keep them from exposing his affair. martha: doug, obviously a lot of people on the hill as we just saw senator barrasso upset that the fbi did not alert them that there was an ongoing investigation into the petraeus issue. what's that all about? >> reporter: there are questions about when the fbi is required to notify congress about ongoing criminal investigation. legendary some say infamous j. edcar hoofer was criticized for using investigation as tools to threaten opponents. jay carney was asked why the white house didn't know about the investigation until after the election.

>> they have protocols in place for when they notify the executive branches of investigation. it's simply a fact that the white house was not aware of the:situation regarding general pea tray us until wednesday. >> reporter: the cia assistant director morrell will brief the committees today. martha: now that he's a civilian, doug, thank you. bill: he mentioned senator barrasso. he will be our guest in 10 minutes. we'll put the questions to him. cast of characters involved in the story. it can be confusing. top left now on screen, will be david petraeus. lawmakers on the hill want to know if national security was threatened by his cia chief's

affair with paula broadwell, his biographer. bottom left. fit was broadwell investigators say sent harassing e-mails to jill kelley. she is bottom right. that womb and it was found was trading hundreds of e-mails with general john allen. pentagon officials say those e-mails may be inappropriate. the president and his defense chief sticking by allen whose nomination to lead nato forces is now on hold. >> no one should leap to any conclusions. general allen is doing an excellent job leading those forces. he has my continued confidence to lead our forces and continue the fight. but his nomination has been put on hold as a prudence measure until we determine what the facts are. and we will.

martha: jill kelly who is being inundated with reporters at her tampa mansion, she even called 911 and asked for diplomatic protection. here is the 911 tape. >> i have a guy in my backyard and he's not leaving. if you can send somebody out. you know, by any chance, i'm an honorary counsel general. i don't know if you want to get diplomatic protection involved as well. it did get tense in a second call when kelley tells the dispatcher there is someone in her yard trying to get in the house. >> they are trying to push the door open, they won't leave. >> are you sure you don't know who these people are? >> i do not know who they are, no. >> miss kelley and her surgeon

husband have kept a low profile since this scandal broke. bill: we talked about these hearings. most of them are in private. one of them this public. but with this petraeus matter you wonder how it affects the hearings scheduled for tomorrow. martha: now that he will be testifying as a civilian, will he add to the video story now that he doesn't have the constraints of being part of the administration? bill: if the hearing is public it will be must-see tv. 7 minutes past the hour. we'll move to this breaking story. there is word the federal government is on track to record its fifth straight year of a $1 trillion budget deficit. five years in a row. it's putting new pressure on the president and congress to get our finances in order before we head over that fiscal cliff.

the federal government starting the 2013 budgettier deep in the hole. the amount is 22% higher than it was last year this time. stuart varney, do the numbers now. >> reporter: you can't wrap your arms around it to understand $1 trillion. the debt is going up very, very rapidly. we are spending a lot more than we are taking in in tax revenues. here is a number for you. in the last 70 days our national debt has gone up by a quarter trillion dollars. 70 days. as you said, we are on track for a straight year, a trillion dollar plus deficit eac each and every year. bill: in two months and 10 days we went una quarter trillion dollars. >> reporter: how can you get to grips that and understand a

number so enormous in such a short period of time and how do you get it under control? bill: tim geithner the treasury secretary is quote as saying this in the "washington post." when you take a cold hard look at the amount of resources you can raise through the top 2% of americans you will finds yourself disapointed relative to the magnitude of the revenue increases that we need. >> reporter: that means you can't just limit deductions to the rich. that won't bring enough money. what you have to do is raise the tax rates on the rich. secretary geithner who didn't pay his taxes when he was confirmed as treasury secretary, he's saying you have got to raise tax rates on the rich. he's upon board with the president to raise tax rates on the rich. if you did that you only bring in $87 billion a week.

that's 10 weeks' worth of interest. that's his side of dealing with the deficit. it's not going to work. the debt keeps on going up and if it keeps on going up like this we'll be downgrade, bill. bill: the money you raise would not cover even the last 70 days, what you just explained. stuart varney with us this morning. martha: president obama will face report,for his first news conference since his reelection. it starts at 1:30 eastern i am. we understand he will join vice president biden in a meeting with the heads of some of america's largest companies to talk about the fiscal cliff and to talk about ways to generate jobs in this country, this comes a day after the meeting he had yesterday which was first on the agenda to sit down with the

nation's top labor leaders. bill: what if they fail on this cliff. nearly all americans will see a tax increase while across-the-board spending cuts take effect. so far there is no plan from democrats or republicans that both sides can agree on. but senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says he's ready to reach across the aisle. >> we are ready to find common ground on revenue. but we are also not about to further weaken the economy by raising tax rates and hurting jobs. bill: in 30 minutes, what would steve forbes do? martha: that's a question i always ask myself. in this situation, what would steve forbes do? pill * these are big, big issues and negotiations will go late into the night. we'll get steve's take coming up on that. martha: an investigation is

underway after a small plane carrying three pilots crashed into a neighborhood. what witnesses heard and saw there. bill: there were serious questions about eric holder and what he knew about the petraeus affair. why didn't he tell the white house any sooner? >> lawmakers want to know in terms of when petraeus found out. he was under investigation. has it had any impact on the comments he made to senators about benghazi and what he knew? we just learned general petraeus says he does want to testify about benghazi. more in a moment. >> you can't get to the bottom of benghazi without him testifying. i want to hear from him what he knew before, during and after the attack. there is nyoo substitute for his testimony in my view. structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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former cia director david petraeus has agreed to voluntarily testify to lawmakers about benghazi. september 14 he seemed to support the administration's story that it was the protests that got out of hand. charles krauthammer asking whether petraeus knew the fbi was investigating him at the time and whether that could have affected his statements. >> the reason it's important is here is a man who knows the administration holds his fate in his hands and he gives testimony at variance with what the secretary of defense said the day before and his station chief in tripoli. was he influenced by the fact that he knew his fate was held by people in the administration at that time? bill: senator barrasso, chair of the senate foreign relations

committee. do you agree charles krauthammer is on to something? >> it does make wonder. the cia reported they knew pretty much from the beginning this was an al qaeda inspired terror attack. why the administration continues to say this was related to a horrible video and protest when we know there was never a protest there. it does show in light of what we know now about general petraeus and the affair that there are huge questions and was there some compromise early on. bill: what do you make of the breaking news on fox that petraeus will voluntarily agree to testify? >> i think that's very good news so we can hear from general petraeus firsthand. he was just in libya in late october. we need to know what he heard. i understand the cia is

finishing up the report. but he's not having input to that. i need to know what he learned, what he saw and what his thoughts are today. bill: what is your first question for him? >> why was there this misleading of the american people and why was there so much confusion and conflicting reports when we knew from the beginning this was an al qaeda-inspired attack where four brave americans lost their lives. bill: you knew it was a terror attack within the first 24 hours. >> i did. bill: petraeus seemed to indicate he was more in line with the story it was akin to a flash mob. and if we go back and listen to his testimony and we will, we'll see whether that matches what he said back on the 14th of september. are you of the mind that was the story he was telling then? >> i wasn't in that briefing

with general petraeus, what i do know is that the american people have been misled from the beginning on this. i want to know why. in spite our classified briefing yesterday there is still many unresolved issues we need to get to. having general petraeus testify to this will be helpful. i think the president should be held to answer these questions today. >> we are getting a lot of questions from our viewers. here is one now. were the president and the vice president in the situation room during the benghazi attack. did the president give the order to stand down. if not, who did. do you have firm answers on both of those today? >> they are still unresolved issues. i would love to see those questions put to the president today. bill: we understand the president was made aware in the oval office september 11. have you heard that or can you confirm that?

>> i can't confirm that, bill. bill: appreciate you coming in today, senator, thank you. hemmer@foxnews.com. thank you, sir. 20 past. martha: a lot of breaking news. this just crossing moments ago. nancy pelosi will remain as the democratic leader. that news has just crossed. she'll make an official announcement at the top of the 10:00. we'll bring that story to you live. nancy pelosi to stay in her position. this morning president obama pushing his plan to avoid the fiscal cliff by raising taxes but in a bigger way than was disclosed about it election. also he meets with the white house with heads of major u.s. corporations. what will transpire there. with white house reporters this will be his first post election

news conference, lots of questions expected on the fiscal cliff and also on the fiscal cliff. bill: that's $6 gasoline. drivers where they are getting a major case of sticker shock. >> it's crazy. if you go to the other gas stations it's half of this. >> we came in the past and they have always been outray just. [ male announcer ] if you're eligible for medicare...

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bill: it's one of those wed days in the middle east. hamas reporting that its top it in commander has been killed after an israeli air strike. the middle east continues to pop. that news just in here at america's newsroom. martha: we have new details on a

deadly plane crash that happened in mis. the plane sputtering after takeoff. all three people were pilots onboard that plane are dead. one person on the ground is injured. what do we know about what happened here? >> reporter: the single-engine plane was headed to an faa security conference 30 miles away. but it sputtered out of control shortly after takeoff. all three people onboard were pilots. it happened in jackson, mississippi, not far from the zoo and at least one person was inside the home. she escaped by jumping out of the window and was taken to the hospital. the owner of the plane was scheduled to be on that flight

but didn't because he decided to go hunting with his family last minute. martha: what do we know about this plane specifically. >> we know the faa and ntsb are investigating. but the owner says it was in mint condition. the plane was in the hangar for a month. but they wanted to take it on this short 30-mile flight. the pilot asked to return to the airport but obviously he lost control and was unable to do so. bill: the breaking news first reported 26 minutes ago. general petraeus agreeing to testify about the libya attacks before a house and senate committee. what will he say now that he's no longer cia chief? martha: an update on a story we first told you about yesterday.

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bill: time for breaking news on the hill. would she or would she not.

now we know nancy pelosi will seek her position as minority leader in the house. this was an open question, but no longer. after a meeting with the democratic caucus she reportedly stated we no longer have the gavel but we have the unity. it should happen 30 minutes from now from the hill, 10:00 eastern time. martha: fox nice confirming general petraeus will indeed testify. he will do so voluntarily this friday and he will talk to members of congress about what happened in benghazi. back in september he backed up the obama administration's spontaneous attack claim based on the video that has surfaced. could his testimony change or be more forth coming and larger perhaps now that he's no longer the cia chief. refired four-star general jack keane knows general petraeus

personally. general keane. good to have you with us. the reports yesterday were that general petraeus did not want to testify, he would let morell, his deputy step in. and he didn't want to create a media circus around his appearance. what has changed? >> i think he always wanted to testify going back to when he was a director because there was so much misinformation out there. i think it played a part in his journey to libya and doing a personal inquiry on what took place there to make certain he had all the facts. he spoke with the chief of the benghazi base and had a report put together based on that. so i think in his mind he always wanted to testify and clear up any of the misunderstanding. then of course he resigned as

director and i think in his own mind he felt it was no longer his position to testify. but given the clamor and the interest surrounding his testimony, particularly given the interest in his previous testimony and some of the misunderstanding that created, i think that's what prompted him saying i have nothing to hide, i'm more than happy to talk to you about the events surrounding 9/11. that's what this is about. martha: do you think something good or some larger truth about the situation can come from his testimony friday? >> i think so. everybody knows so much more about it. and you know, martha, at heart of this, this is 60 days plus from 9/11. the events round that. and the reason why the legislative branch is pushing to get information is because the executive grab much has never given them an accounting of what

took place on 9/11. and they are having to pull it out of various agencies they have oversight of. the department of defense has never given a briefing which they normally do. >> do you think was towing the white house line on this and the fact that he's now liberated from doing that, will that produce a different story on friday? >> i don't think so. i know david petraeus real well. he has his interpretation of what took place and i don't think that has changed. martha: there is a larger thinking here. when you go back to the root of why everybody cares so much about what happened in benghazi. on the one hand it' the four lives lost there. and it's our understanding of whether al qaeda is growing in this region which seems to be a

threat the white house does not want to perpetuate. >> certainly he has the information on that. and i would hope they would ask him about that. the fact of the matter is if you just look at open sources like we have reported here on fox, it's indisputable that al qaeda is on the rise in the middle east. double in size in the iraq and north africa. that's indisputable evidence. >> bill kristol said something the other night. he said that general petraeus said something to the effect do you want to know what happened? he said do you want to know the official line or do you want to know what really happened. i don't know if that conversation took place the way it was presented. there will be senators we understand in a closed door hearing that will put that question to him.

were you told to say was this because of a movie? do you know what the answer to that question will be? >> they will get a straight answer. and i don't know what all the answers are. we can only speculate. but one thing i do know. they will know the truth from david petraeus as he sees it. martha: people send us message and tweets. there are people who believe general petraeus has been in some ways unfairly maligned in this. do you think he wants to speak in order to sort of set the record straight and to present himself in a way that will help preserve his legacy for the future? >> i think one of the things that was motivated when he was the director to want to go back and testify was to clear the misrepresentation of what had tang place with the cia and what his actions were and what the analysts provided him in terms

of the motivation for the attack. he wanted to clear all that up. i don't think that's changed one about it. i think it's less about him and more about fat facts are getting the truth out there in terms of the events surrounding 9/11. martha: we all look forward to that. i think a lot of people are glad he volunteered to testify and to hear more of his story. thank you very much, general. always good to talk to you. bill: the hearings should be public. new york has opened 7 new emergency centers in hard-hit areas to provide food, clothing and assistance on how to rebuild. from staten island where anger has been growing over lack of help, neighbors have turned to each other. >> reporter: we are here in staten island it's an incredible story about a community that pulled together.

all the neighbors here, business leaders pulled together. they created this incredible effort. everything you can imagine. water, food, medical supplies, diapers, tooth brushes. and a lot of the people helping and running errands have lost their homes as well. this is proof that literally in the neighborhood with just a little bit of help everyone can pull together and make things happen. bill: is the need for help slowing? what else your sense? >> reporter: we have seen a lot of people in a tremendous amount of needs. this is gina, one of the folks -- what has it been like the last two weeks. is it getting better or do people still have a great deal of need. >> it's getting worse because people are realizing what they need. it's to the point where the

needs they were once able to get they can't get. we are a catering hall. this is not our full time -- this is not what we -- this is scary. the owner and chef frank called me the day after the storm and said let's get down there. at that point i had no idea what was really going on. then we went full force turning this into what the people needed. they lost their homes. we lad hot meals and home cooked meals. >> reporter: they have been working on trying to get hot meals set up in this tent. the community pulled together. there are people stopping by giving them things and they are working to help this community out. bill: we'll not forget about them. staten island yet again this morning. martha: president obama starts off the fiscal cliff negotiations by playing hardball. what the president wants and

whether it will work. steve forbes is up next. bill: a gas station is charging folks more than $6.50 per gallon. right about $6.50. and how they are getting away with it. seems they haven't been moving much lately. but things are starting to turn around because of business people like you. and regions is here to help. with the experience and service to keep things rolling. from business loans to cash management, we want to be your partner moving forward. so switch to regions. and let's get going. together.

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bill: the hits just keep on coming. u.s. senator angus king out of maine announced he will caucus with the democrats in the senate. that increases the senate democratic majority. two independents caucusing with the democrats 55-45 now in the u.s. senate. martha: you think gas is pricey where you live? a gallon of regular at this orlando station, $6.44. the station is located in the heart of the orlando's tourist

town. most of the customers will be out of towners, right? >> i don't see how they are still open. i'm surprised they are not find for that. if people actually pay for it, that's crazy. martha: that station is face nothing fines because or land do is not in the state of emergency. it has received complaints so we'll see where that goes. bill: i have been to that gas station. it's right by the airport. the thing that sticts you -- they change the law. they said you had to put the number on the streets so dumb folks like me -- martha: you can keep going before you steer in there in the first place. you think the country is in financial trouble. $1.6 trillion, that's how much the president wants to raise

taxes on the wealthy and corporations. steve, how are you doing? i wish i could put a smile on your face. what do you think of that? >> i think it's an opening gambit. the president feels he has the whip hand and he will use that whip harshly. one of the lowest moments in his life was when he had to agree to extend the bush tax rates in 2010 and now it's time for revenge. bill: you are saying there is no chance he will pass on that opportunity. >> he will get those tax increases one way or another. bill: do you think that flies in the u.s. house? does john boehner have the votes to match that? >> the white house figures he will portray himself as the chapel yofnt middle class and the republicans are going out for the rift and he feels he can largely beat hem into submission. when they sit down to the

bargaining table they might make some changes but he will want to come out of these negotiations as having largely won them and leaving scraps for the republicans. what the republicans have to hit back with is the way you increase revenues is by having rising incomes. you don't get that by higher taxes on a weakening economy. bill: the president plans to open the talks using his most recent budget proposal. wasn't that the budget that got zero votes in the senate? >> he's going to exploit it for all it's worth. you could come to an agreement using bowles and simpson and reducing rates so everyone

declares victory. you have got more revenue but the rates don't go up. but i don't think the president is interested in that. if you had normal people doing this. this president web many got his own agenda. bill: jay carney suggests even the revenue generated by letting those tax cuts end would not be enough to tame the national debt and reenergize the economy. that's how deep the hole is. do you need a grand bargain to get out of that? >> even if you got what the president wanted it would be at the most 12 cents on the dollar, you have still got 88, 90 cents to go. in terms of a grand bargain it will take several months. positively reforming medicare, medicaid and social security. i think he wants to get that big tax increase and they will deal with the other stiff later. he's out to show who's boss now.

bill: you mentioned john boehner, the republicans in the house. this is boehner from yesterday. >> instead of raising tax rates on the american people let's start to solve the problem. let's focus on tax reform that closes special interest loopholes and lowers tax rates. bill: that was four days ago. tax reform that closes special interest loopholes and lowers tax rates. is this admin snraition your view open to any of that for negotiations? >> i think their version of a tax reform is raising tax rates. the capital gains leaf why is and dividend taxes will go up 25% because of obama-care and the taxes on obama-care that hit in on january 1. you already have a major increase on capital gains taxes. they are talking about increasing them even more. i think the republicans have to

make the point we are doing enough damage as it is. let's try to save this economy, not hurt it. bill: if the president gets his way what happens to the economy. >> if the republicans were cynical they would let the president have his tax increases and let the economy go off a cliff like what's happening in europe and pick up the political pieces. but thankfully the house republicans don't want to let that happen. the president will learn even though he won the election, he's not the on one who makes decision in this country. bill: steve forbes in new york. so there is a wild car crash that was caught on camera. who police say was behind the wheel and what happened. look at this. we'll show you. bill: the battle over allen west's seat in congress is still not decided. he says he's filing complaints after votes apparently disappeared in a recount.

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[♪] bill: turn around bright eyes. turn around. martha: a bad karaoke bar. bill: thousands turned out to watch the total solar eclipse in

aussieland. 50,000 came out in queensland, australia to watch the eclipse. it's the first total solar eclipse in more than 2 years. martha: that's amazing. new questions after hundreds of votes in florida reportedly disappeared in one of the nation's most heated election battles. congressman allen west says he's filing a complaint challenging the race that could cost him his seat in the house. phil, three people with the state's division of elections are coming down from tallahassee to work on this. >> reporter: the florida secretary of state says any time there are are questions about the accuracy of the election numbers he's concerned. three employees are coming down to st. lucie county to check out what is one of the closest congressional races on election day. let's look at the current florida scorecard on the florida 18th district congressional

race. representative allen west, the republican with 49.7% and newcomer democrat patrick murphy pulling 50.3%. the concern from representative west deals specifically with the early voting totals in st. lucie county. sunday the county recounted, put through the processing machine just three of the eight days but suddenly 799 votes disappeared. that's why west wants all early votes recounted. he says he's not a sore loser. >> we just want the truth. i don't understand why no one else wants to understand that that's what this is about. if people don't want to see me in congress that's fine. but don't do it at the expense of the voters and the expense of the american voter who are

losing confidence in the electoral process. >> reporter: allen west was a favorite of the tea party an was a primary mission for the democratic party. bill: both of these gentlemen flew to d.c. for the first day on capitol hill and representative elect patrick murphy was there with nancy pelosi at a big news conference of newly elected democrats in the house and murphy is beginning the process of representing florida. >> my name is patrick murphy from florida district 18. the youngest new member of congress. and just defeated somebody you all may know. allen west. i may have heard of him. >> reporter: the state of florida has certified patrick

murphy as the winner. martha: thank you very much. fighting over the sign on the door. bill: breaking news in washington. house minority leader nancy pelosi will speak at the top of the hour. what will she say? find out when we take you there.

martha: we begin this hour with the leaders of the house intel committee being briefed by the fbi on the sex scandal that involved former cia director david director david petraeus. later today they will get a cia briefing from michael morel. we were briefed yesterday, and there has been growing outrage about this whole story in terms of who was told what and when. congressional members want to know why they were not briefed. they actually found out about it through the media. many of them claimed lawmakers are now demanding answers from attorney general eric holder

about one he knew and whether or not he shared what he knew what the president. people found it unbelievable that he would not have. we will be joined by committee chairman peter king and in a few moments from now, mr. eric holder's future is once again a question. developing news this morning as well from capitol hill. after much speculation, house minority leader nancy pelosi will keep her job. a brand-new our starts right now of "america's newsroom" i am martha mccallum. bill: and i am bill hemmer. nancy pelosi and her move coming after democrats failed to win the house majority.

peter is live from washington. did she she explained why she wants to stay? reporter: our sources inside the caucus room where she made her announcement, congresswoman nancy pelosi was standing with a handful of democratic elected members of congress. they say a picture is worth a million words come welcome in this picture is worth millions of aspirations of the american people. this makes our caucus is stored for the first time in legislative history. she also told the group that the message is clear from the american people that they must work together to get things done. that is what these folks are here to do, just like all of you. now, the democrats hold their leadership elections on november 29. congresswoman pelosi will be the overwhelming favorite to win the title of democratic leader. congressman hoyer was thought to be impossible successor if she

was to step down. they worked together in the late 60s. and jan brewer's office yesterday, if he was asked if pelosi should remain at the helm, he said that if she wants to stay on, then yes, she should. now, we know that she does want to stay on. bill: have republicans reacted on anything involving pelosi's announcement? reporter: they said the leader pelosi is solely responsible from knocking democrats from the majority to minority in the house. this signals that house democrats have absolutely no interest in regaining the trust and confidence of the american people who took the speaker's gavel way from nancy pelosi in the first place. pelosi's will democrats today that they may not have the gavel, but they have unity. we will hear more from her in just a few moments. bill: thank you, peter. here is martha. martha: president obama set to

hold his first news conference since winning reelection. he is expected to make a hard push for his plan to raise taxes. vice presidential candidate paul ryan tells abc news that there are other ways of getting more revenue into our government without damaging the economy. that is the kind of thing that we are hoping to achieve. he is the head of the house budget committee. i am joined now by senior foreign affairs correspondent wendell. taxes are still really the main sticking point. despite this ticking tock of the fiscal cliff, right? reporter: the president's aides say that he will not extend the bush administration upper income tax cuts. voters made clear that they support that by reelecting him. republicans say raising taxes on the top 2% of the country would cost jobs. mr. obama says that the only way that is fair to reduce the

deficit. >> it is clear that in other forms, one thing we know about this primarily, is that they were affected. not just and ensuring that the wealthiest pay their share, but as part of an approach, that fuels economic expansion, job creation, and wealth creation. reporter: the white house and congress have until the end of the year to come out with a deficit reduction plan to avoid across-the-board spending cuts and tax hikes. economists say could trigger another recession. martha: republicans are vociferously denying that the president's reelection was a mandate for any tax increase, is that right? reporter: they say voters made that clear by not reversing the republican majority in the house of representatives. they said the president's reelection gives him more time to come up with a compromise plan for reducing the deficit.

republicans are suggesting tax reform, although there may not be enough time for that. the fiscal cliff is looming at the end of the year. still, mitch mcconnell is not ready to blink yet as the senate majority leader. >> while voters have given him a second term, they have given us in congress the power and duty to ensure that we use that power wisely. that is, of course, what we intend to do. reporter: tim geithner says raising the top tax rate is the only way to significantly reduce the deficit. he is counting on a $1.6 trillion taxes on corporations on the nation's top earners. martha: we turn the clocks back last week. thank you, buddy. bill: catching up. fox news alert. significant news from the middle east. brand-new video in from hamas with a military leader of that group has been taken out. an israeli airstrike that killed

the commander of this military wing. israel is now saying that this is just the beginning. leland vittert is live in jerusalem. what can we report? reporter: right now there are some myths to the israeli version of killing osama bin laden. ahmed jabari had been running this for 10 years. he killed so many israeli people. he was killed in a targeted killing in the gaza strip. a missile took out a card he was riding in. it leads to more targeted killing of militants there. the military now calling this operation cloud pillar. we just got off the briefing with the israeli military says it is going to be in operation against hamas and islamic jihad. also some of their camps and weapons storage facilities

there, inside of the gaza strip. what we are waiting for right now is the reciprocity multiplier to begin. over the past week or so there have been about 160 rockets fired out of the gaza strip into southern israel. those rockets believe messing up life in southern israel. obviously, they have the potential to kill and injure a number of people. they demanded action and eventually, the israeli military has said that this has worn thin. the question is what does hamas do and islamic jihad? what they do? if they are launching more rockets, the israeli military operation will continue to grow. we know that hamas and islamic jihad are holding their punches a little bit. they have rockets, which could reach israeli locations, like the airport. also, tel aviv. this killing of ahmed jabari may

bring about a level of retaliation by hamas by escalating this launching rockets into tel aviv, which would likely see the israelis launch a ground offensive back into gaza. the last time that happened was almost four years ago to the month. bill: leland vittert, thank you so much. a lot to watch there in jerusalem. martha: there are new questions about the timing of general david petraeus's resignation and whether this man, eric holder, could have or should have notified the white house or capitol hill. what does this mean for his future? congressman peter king is live on that. bill: also, a high-stakes meeting in the white house. let's say he did not turn out so well. it didn't go so well. so what about this time? martha: and a dramatic crash caught on tape.

a driver bolting from a hit and run. but not making it very far. you will want to see this video. we will be right back with more.

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♪one smile that cheers you ♪one face that lights when it nears you.♪ ♪and you will be happy too. bill: we talked about this a short time ago. nancy pelosi is throwing her name back in. she is keeping it in the democratic range to maintain her position in the house. apparently at the democratic caucus yesterday, she looked around the room and says we have the support that we need, and i'm sticking with it. martha: she brought everybody with her. every woman in congress, perhaps. bill: that's not a big stage. we want to get the headline here. let's check on us for a moment and we will get peter king end. there was a lot of news regarding general david petraeus

today. martha: it's pretty funny in there i guess. >> okay, i think that means most of them here. good morning. [inaudible conversations] >> more are coming. yesterday when we gather here, i began my comments a standing here with our new members of congress by saying that a picture is worth 1000 words. that is what they say. i said it then and i say now, that this picture before you is worth millions of votes. millions of votes. [applause] millions of women's votes that

it took to reelect resident barack obama. [applause] millions of women's votes to help us select a record number of people to the congress of the united states. understand that you are looking into the future. the future of empowerment of women in america. we saw some of these faces yesterday. among the new members elect. i said then that they were part of the most diverse caucus in the history of the world. the first time that a parliamentary body would have a party with a majority of women and minorities. we are very proud of that. yesterday, we did not have the majority, but we have the gavel.

excuse me, we don't have the gavel. [laughter] [laughter] we have our own gavel. we have something more important. we have unity. we do not have a gavel. we do not have the majority. but we have unity. i think that our caucus this morning demonstrated that very clearly. so i come here with my sisters. when i came to congress 25 years ago, there was about 23 members of congress who women out of 435. just think about that. twelve democrats and 11 republicans, something like that. today, we have over 60 house

democratic women. [applause] that is very good. it is not enough. we want more. but all of us who were there, we all took responsibility to try to pull more women into congress, in our state delegations and across the country. i am very proud in california from our delegation of democrats as the majority of women. not even counting our two senators, senator feinstein and senator boxer. women are empowered in california. i also want to acknowledge that there are members here, two of our colleagues have gone to the senate. senator elect tammy baldwin. [cheers] [applause] and senator elect maisie hirano and only the second woman of

color to serve in the senate. so that is pretty exciting. bill: nancy pelosi will seek her position as minority leader. if you saw a few moments ago, she is a democrat. nancy pelosi with the democratic women of the house. it's not a large stage of there, so they are standing pretty close together. martha: back to the top story of the day, and that is general david petraeus has said that he has voluntarily decided that he will testify what he saw on the ground in 1000 when he was mayor at the end of october, and that will happen on friday. a lot of people pressing for that and felt it was very important that he should share what he learned about what happened in benghazi when four americans were killed, including the u.s. ambassador. that will, indeed, now happen. as to the other part of this

story, republican lawmakers are now asking for answers from attorney general eric holder. u.s. attorney general new in late summer that the fbi was looking into activities by the cia director. but he never included president obama. he said that would not happen on his watch. >> when i was the attorney general, if he had come to me and have advised me that the cia director was suspected of having an affair, i would've notified the president of the united states. i would've done so because an affair by the cia director reflects extremely poor judgment. i believe that the president would've wanted to know and was entitled to note that kind of information. martha: the white house says that they first heard right after the election this week. >> the fbi, as i understand it,

it is simply a fact that the white house was not aware of the situation regarding general david petraeus until wednesday. martha: congressman peter king joins us now. will what do you make of what jay carney said there? >> it doesn't make any sense. i think he sent a letter to the attorney general. who heatwole, if anyone, why he didn't tell the president -- to me it is absolutely essential. i agree with attorney gonzález. this is involved in the scope of the criminal investigation that has to be brought to the attention of the president. because the cia director, especially this one, was such an integral part of the president's

team representing our government and the sensitive negotiations in various countries and groups around the world. the president would've had to have been told that if eric holder didn't tell him, it was a duty on his part. if you told anyone in the white house and they didn't act on it, then that would certainly an abdication of their responsibility. martha: senator ben feinstein yesterday of the intel committee, she said she can't understand why the committee of the house and senate would not have been a breach of security. where is this going to go in terms of accountability from here? >> let me just back up a second. he was told several months before bin laden was killed, he was told about operations being in place. those secrets are kept.

they had an obligation to tell. right now i know that chairman rogers on the house side is meeting with the fbi. we have made it clear. a republican member of that committee and democrats agree, certainly the german and raking member should have been told. also, when we heard general david petraeus, he gave information on september 14, about benghazi was too preoccupied? martha: do you believe he was? >> i was just talking to friend who is on the intelligence committee. the documents that they have, prior to general david petraeus coming in, it is impossible to believe that he thought he was giving honest testimony. if he was aware of the investigation, maybe he wanted

to stay on the radar screen, i don't know. the fact that his testimony was so raw and the investigation has gone from it has to make you wonder. martha: congressman king, always good to have you, sir. bill: what is the fate of susan rice? is hurt future in limbo because of libya? two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years.

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martha: we are back. twenty-five minutes past the hour, chris christie reversing his stand on tax increases after superstorm sandy. the republican has pushed aggressively for cutting and capping taxes. taxes could rise and cindy ravaged areas. and a man prosecutors say confessed to 1979 murder of

6-year-old etan patz. he is waiting behind bars in new york city. and the carmaker says there is a steering defect in several models produced between 2000 and 2011, including the very popular toyota prius and toyota corolla. let's go to my friend who is there with more on that. reporter: i would like to bring in michael sing who is the washington director for north east policy. we have this breaking news on israel. the leading military member of hamas has been killed in gaza. we are going to put that into the mix. here is serious, syria, that war has been raging for 20 months now. now it is starting to spread to other areas. turkey has a refugee issue as will some other areas.

jordan, down here, israel and lebanon. this map here, what is your concern? >> welcome one of the things we worry about now are all 20 months of this, this would eventually become a regional conflict. a broader conflict in one confined to syria. we find that happening to some extent. we see strikes in turkey and violence crossing into lebanon. we see a massive outflow of refugees into turkey and lebanon and jordan. of course, iran is also involved in this conflict as well. this is one of the big concerns that the u.s. has had all along. bill: okay, i want to put a rock into this mix. i want to put talk about damascus. how does this factor in? >> welcome is syria has long been, as you said, but ron's only ally in this region. they used syria is a place to connect with proxies like

hezbollah or islamic jihad. it will be a major strategic blow for ron and will really constrain the ability to project power. that would be a concern. that is one of the reasons you see these gulf states get involved in supporting this opposition. it is a proxy battle against iran. bill: to take this in total, one second. the question is where is this? where is this going? reporter: is that this could simply spill over the borders. regardless of what we do, the obama administration come as they look at us, they have to decide if we are going to try to contain us this and fortify those borders, try to provide aid to syria's neighbors, hoping we can stop the bleeding in a sense, or are they going to intervene and try to end this conflict? it is what a lot of those neighbors would probably like to see, especially the turks. the that contains a lot of risk that contains a lot of potential

problems for the obama administration. the president obama is going to think long and hard about this one. bill: michael, thank you. out of washington. a terrific guest. martha: a high-stakes meeting of the white house going on. obama welcoming business leaders. he has had a difficult relationship with wall street throughout the course of his tenure. some of business leaders as well. trying to avert the fiscal cliff by raising taxes. how will that be received? are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today.

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martha: a reaction as fox news has confirmed that former cia director david petraeus will voluntarily testify before lawmakers about the deadly terrorist attacks in libya. molly is live in washington for us. what we know about when he will testify? will be open or closed? reporter: you will likely testify either tomorrow or friday to the senate intelligence committee. that is chaired by dianne feinstein. the timing is being finalized. even now as we speak. david petraeus also agreed to speak to the house intelligence committee. but a date and time and not is not that either. one senator says this all will be helpful in the been causing investigation. >> we can hear from general david petraeus before, during, and after the attack of what happened. he was just in libya in the last couple of weeks.

we need to know what he heard. i understand cia is now just finishing up the report. i need to know what he learned there, what he saw, and what his thoughts are today. reporter: david petraeus apparently told some lawmakers that they were caused by a mob gone wild over an anti-muslim video. another barrasso wants to know if and why the former cia director would say that when cia personnel on the ground in libya knew within a day it was a terror attack. martha: a lot of questions from the map. there will be others on capitol hill today that will be briefing lawmakers. he was going to do that? >> one of them is the successor, michael morel, and he will be back today, the white house says lawmakers should be able to get what they need from michael morel. >> is called to testify. the president is confident that the acting director is fully

capable of representing the cia in hearing about the incident and benghazi. reporter: also patrick kennedy will brief members of the homeland security committee today. martha: molly, thank you so much. bill: president obama will meet today with about a dozen business executives to lobby their support for his plan to avoid falling off that cliff. among the executives at today's meeting, the president's jobs council meeting. charlie gasparino has more. how are you, sir? good morning to you. have you confirm that valerie gerbil had this meeting today? is that true? >> i have not heard that yet. but i will tell you that that makes complete sense. valerie jarrett is the presence person on economic affairs.

this seems like the perfect, you know, the perfect place for her right now. this is one the biggest farce is that we have seen so far. nothing is going to come out of this. the ceos of them sit there and listen to the president, he's going to make some remarks, they will make some remarks, and then they will leave. if you look at the jobs council, the last time they met was in january. this tells you how much of a perfunctory affair was. the president spoke from a teleprompter. nothing is going to happen here. bill: okay, it's a farce. [talking over each other] reporter: bill, it's going to be a farce. bill: the president met with union and progressive leaders yesterday. john podesta wasn't mad, mary kay henry, richard trumka, so now you have a press conference this afternoon. and then you have this summit with the business leaders.

reporter: not one single person, these are people that one major companies, by the way, thinks the support, you have all these major companies. it is incumbent upon them not to say anything. these are big companies come, they don't like the press fallout. i am telling you that nothing will come out of this. this will be a photo op. what is scary is that i believe that i know people who are decent people. they are being used as a photo op. bill: so they are all getting together. the last time this happened, you mentioned january, i was thinking two years ago when they went to the job senate. we knew what came out of that, right? reporter: just in the jobs

council, the chairman of that -- the jobs council has not met since last january. it was one the most perfunctory affairs ever. one of the scary things -- you think the president would be engaged enough that he could really speak and he could talk to them and they can have a dialogue. what i heard is that the president spoke from the teleprompter and read a speech, went around the room, and he really doesn't care what business leaders have to say. they should know that going in. they are big public companies, it's a pr thing, by the way, ge gets a lot of corporate welfare out of this white house. as they all do. bill: what will be interesting is how many talk about it tomorrow. and what they have a sure about what happened. reporter: the very fact that valerie jarrett is running this -- i'm sure she's very smart, she has no expert in the

economy. you would think that you would have a treasury secretary or someone in there. someone like that. the fact that valerie jarrett is the liaison for the business committee, you know, some on the political side of the aisle, it is actually a pretty scary thing. bill: charlie, thank you. we will reach out to the ceos. we would love to get one or two of them on. thank you. martha: here is the video of the day. a dramatic crash. it could have taken a very ugly turn. we will show you what happened you want also, the future of susan rice. should she replace ellery quentin? there were lawmakers who say she doesn't deserve that job after how she portrayed the benghazi attack. in the initial days that followed, here is marco rubio. >> i am concerned that she went on sunday shows and said this was the product of a spontaneous uprising as opposed to a

terrorist attack

bill: check this out. watch the left side of your screen. the suv that you see across the strip, running into another car. the driver is said to be an emergency room doctor. they say that she was involved in a crash only moments earlier. she was charged with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. martha: oh, boy. well, new concerns from republican lawmakers about the reported top candidate for secretary of state will be clinton's position. that would be the woman they see on the screen there. ambassador susan rice. her comments on the benghazi terror attacks outraged some people in washington who felt that she was not giving him the straight story. senator marco rubio said that she will have to answer for that. watch this. >> i am concerned about the fact that she ran on sunday shows and said this was the product of a

spontaneous uprising as opposed to terrorist attacks. she honestly base those comments on information that she had. it is important to know what that information was. what is also important to know is why did they wait so long. even after they knew it was not the result of the youtube video. why did he wait so long to publicly change their position on that? i think she should have to answer questions about that. no doubt about it. martha: no doubt about it this marco rubio. i am joined by alan colmes. host of the alan colmes radio show. pete snyder is a former rudy giuliani pulls sir. thank you for coming. >> great to be here be to susan rice, a potential to replace hillary clinton. what do you think? >> i think it would be a horrible idea. especially in the wake of the cover-up of benghazi.

the misinformation that susan rice ran out and told all americans on the sunday shows. anyone who has ever done a sunday show knows that you don't do that without getting talking points from the white house, without having a briefing from the political shop there. you have two choices. one is a horrible choice, but we actually want to get to the bottom of what happened and benghazi, no better way than the senate confirmation hearings. martha: given night, the white house, we see this happen a lot. it puts some names out there and allows us to be what the reaction is. do you think they would change their mind? >> i disagree. there is some kind of cover-up that went on, the initial reports said it was about a video. the fact of the matter is that the administration acknowledged right away was a terrorist attack. susan rice went on television and said, what do we do at the

time. this is a ploy to once again go out to the administration as they try to make this an election issue, which did not succeed too well for republicans martha: tons of evidence that people did know that it was a terrorist attack. we litigate all of the discussion that we have about the timing and benghazi. i do want to talk about those. we know that susan rice's nomination will bring this issue up. it will be re-litigated, if indeed it does. pete, does the fact that they would put her name out there and suggest that they like her, doesn't mean that they are not concerned about that? >> well, you don't leak anything in washington without having some concerns. i believe the right thing for barack obama, and he has an incredible opportunity to lead if he wants to, he chose not to after being elected in 2008. solely focusing on obamacare. he should really take a team of

rivals and a page booklet he did with hillary clinton and put john mccain as secretary of state. martha: what you think about that? >> i like john mccain very much. i think john kerry would be a choice before john mccain. but it would probably be a good idea to reach across the aisle. but you are trying to litigate the election. saying that obama did nothing but obamacare, which is not true. let's move forward and realize. unfortunately -- [talking over each other] [talking over each other] >> we have a debt ambassador in libya. [talking over each other] >> is that susan rice's fault? we need to get to the bottom of this. >> you are arguing what we argued a month ago. martha: regardless of what we see here today, there is testimony being given right now. it is honestly a hot issue and

remains so. we know that we will hear from general david petraeus in the coming days. there is more to be told and we will get to the bottom of it. we will see whether susan rice continues to stand by as we move forward in the poess. bill: 12 minutes away, we have jon scott and jenna lee on "happening now." martha: and we are awaiting a news conference on the attack and benghazi. we we'll have that live for you. also, a special agent who worked on the uss cole investigation joins us with his thoughts on all of us, including ben dossey, and why he says we have to keep the focus on the bigger picture and where our enemies are at work. also, coming from the white house, who blinks first? a fair and balanced debate coming up next.

bill: for the starter right now. let's start it. but that apparently has been replaced with a different mandate. we have an update on that for you. martha: what did the organist do? martha: some of new york's largest cities at a standstill today. workers going on strike. economic worries, we will be right back all eyes, right here.

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martha: an update on the story we talked about yesterday. a sigh of release, the national anthem is back at that pennsylvania high school hockey

games. the commissioner received complaints from around the country, and now he says that he has heard the voice of the people and the league has a fair solution. a recording of the anthem. >> we are to have one national anthem. one minute 15 seconds. we just want to try to keep a level playing field for all of the teams, and we will be playing the national anthem. martha: there you go. the league initially banned it because they say it took away the time from the game. you know that ice time is very important, and so is the national anthem. bill: only a minute and 50 seconds. some are fighting planned budget cuts with a coordinated general strike. demonstrations were violent there. strikers bringing factory transportation to in your

standstill. spain, portugal, italy, greece, belgium. what brought the folks and the protesters to the streets today? reporter: they are saying enough is enough. this is the first time we have seen european protest. it does up the ante. it has caused headaches for people all across europe. hundreds of flights have been canceled. businesses are closed, nurses are on strike. it depends on how badly people have affected. spain win after greece, they are in real trouble. the biggest country on the continent is one in four people are out of work. some felt that their situations was to precarious. many of them wore orange wristbands to show solidarity. some did not want to close altogether. strikers went past and the voice of the mob in a game of cat and

mouse. in italy, demonstrations up and down the country, tensions are one of the biggest issues in that country. in many cases, retirement age has gone from 62 up to 67, and in some cases, 69 years old. young young people are suffering in their own way in italy. one in three are out of work. bill: it is quite remarkable. when you think of that in spain, 25% unemployment. it blows your mind. thank you, amy. we will be watching it in london. martha: we are awaiting a news conference from the president. the first one since the election. he is expected to detail his plan and take on the fiscal cliff. we will take you live when it happens ♪

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martha: so, bill, my dear, we've been talking all day how it is a kind of a special day here at "america's newsroom" and that it is because young

bill hemmer's happy birthday. happy birthday to you. bill: got icing right because it is blue. martha: it is blue. that is your favorite. and we knew that. we want to thank mr. and mrs. hemmer for bringing billy into the world just a few years ago. we don't have to say how many. let me tell you something, very, you look great. bill: thank you. i still act and i feel 25. so i think that is going to get me a little bit --. martha: you're 32. bill: 25. i want to make a wish here real quick. this will be a fox news alert. but i'm not going to tell you. martha: blow it out. we have 30 seconds. bill: magic candles. did this in third grade. martha: hope it comes true buddy this year. bill: usually i take my birthdays off. martha: thanks for coming in today. bill: s